If the entrance/door to this room is near the front door (as well as a glass front door as suggested above) what about a glass door into the room, (or an internal window) it can be frosted or even semi-opaque white for example to act as a window. With respect to the neighbour's driveway - if you make it a narrow or high window so ou can't look out onto them it might be ok. Worth having a chat with your local planning dept (at your local council if you are in the UK), worth going in to see them or inviting them out to have a look. From a waking up perspective I have used a sunrise lamp in the past which I preferred in winter to an alarm which uses noise. You set the time to wake up and the duration of the sunrise e.g. 30, 45, 60 mins and it slowly gets brighter until you wake up and turn it off. If you don't in time it finally rang a small alarm. The one I had was made of a special glass to mimic daylight but you can also get others made of plain white glass or maybe plastic, worth a look. Here's two from John Lewis and Amazon (I searched under 'sunrise lamp') ... http://www.johnlewis.com/lumie-bodyclock-go-75-wake-up-light/p231686152?sku=231686152&kpid=231686152&s_kenid=56c2265d-85e4-411b-84d5-312ec2a63635&s_kwcid=404x68076&tmad=c&tmcampid=73&kpid=231686152 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002TEXEAI/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000YSFS6Y&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0GVXPVJQV1AF513935AR I would also go for a light but calm colour (not too 'bright', not white) something with a bit of depth but too bright might be a bit much and too dark a bit coffin-like. Would be good to see a photo of the actual space, dimensions etc

I would probably put in more though. Fairly close to the walls. Have them on different switch from chandelier/pendant above the table. Leaning mirror could be fun. Or a grid of mirrors on the wall. The chimney breast would be the obvious spot for a mirror, but you could hang a piece of art on there too. The window reference was more meant in the sense of that a mirror reflects light and gives depth. It all depends on how you're going to place furniture too. No doubt it will become a very cosy dining room :-)

Hi Liz, for a relaxing, cosy feel to a room, I'd generally recommend painting the ceiling and the walls the same colour, or at least no more than 2/3 shades difference (darker on the walls and lighter on the ceiling to give the feel of additional height). Having different colours works in some spaces but can be distracting and as you already have the fireplace as the feature, I'd avoid it. You can always add a mirror or some art to the chimney breast to really enhance it. Alternatively, if you're really keen to use two colours, then you could consider painting the top half of the walls one colour and then use a darker shade on the bottom half, using the height of your fireplace as the halfway guide. Hope that helps? Jo (Room4 Interiors)

Perfect size for a utility, also an opportunity to get the washing machine out of the kitchen, and as Jonathan says, have a condenser dryer ( I have had one for years due to no outside wall space)